{"title":"Book review: Du leurre archéologique au milieu associé préhistorique: compte-rendu et commentaires autour de l’ouvrage La pierre et son ombre. Épistémologie de la Préhistoire d’H. Forestier","authors":"Antonio Pérez Balarezo","doi":"10.2218/jls.4499","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.4499","url":null,"abstract":"La pierre et son ombre. Épistémologie de la Préhistoireby Hubert ForestierL’Harmattan, 2020, pp. 272, fig. 32 ISBN 978-2-343-19641-1https://www.editions-harmattan.fr/index.asp?navig=catalogue&obj=livre&no=66449","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44151717","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book review: Lithic technological analysis: theory and practice","authors":"H. Forestier","doi":"10.2218/jls.5166","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.5166","url":null,"abstract":"Lithic Technological Analysis: Theory and Practice \u0000by Yinghua Li \u0000Social Sciences Academic Press (China), 2017, pp. 459. ISBN 978-7-5201-0787-7 \u0000https://www.ssap.com.cn/c/2017-07-12/1057538.shtml","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48644484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Piney Branch site (District of Columbia, U.S.A.) and the significance of the quarry-refuse model for the interpretation of lithics sites","authors":"Curtis N. Runnels","doi":"10.2218/jls.2986","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.2986","url":null,"abstract":"In the 1870s the amateur archaeologist Dr Charles Abbott discovered roughly-flaked bifacial artefacts that he called “paleoliths” near Trenton, New Jersey, which he claimed were artefact types similar to Lower Palaeolithic handaxes being found in western Europe at that time. This interpretation gave rise to what has been called the Great Palaeolithic War, a debate in the United States about the existence of an “American Palaeolithic” that only ended in 1890 when the archaeologist William H. Holmes from the Smithsonian Institution excavated the Piney Branch lithics site in Washington D.C.. On the basis of the bifacial reduction sequence that he reconstructed from the lithics excavated at Piney Branch, Holmes argued that any resemblance of paleoliths to Lower Palaeolithic handaxes was accidental. Holmes believed that paleoliths were discarded elements from the sequential reduction of stone nodules (which he called the “Progressive Series”) by recent American Indian knappers during the manufacture of projectile points. In other words, the Trenton paleoliths, and by implication similar roughly-flaked bifaces, were nothing more than quarry refuse (or “waste”). Since Holmes’ day the quarry-refuse model for the interpretation of large roughly-flaked bifacial implements as “waste” and not artefact types used in other activities, particularly for lithics sties in the arid western regions of the US, has been applied at times without adequate bridging arguments. A review of Holmes’ interpretation of the Piney Branch evidence suggests that his quarry-refuse model, even when applied to Piney Branch, required numerous untested assumptions, and that the model may inadvertently obscure a range of other prehistoric activities not strictly related to quarrying and knapping. As a consequence, the application of the quarry-refuse model today to lithics sites found in North America without careful examination may also fail to identify the complete range of cultural activity at those sites, and should be applied to lithics sites only with due caution and the testing of alternative hypotheses.","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41397020","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Paula García-Medrano, Elías Maldonado-Garrido, N. Ashton, A. Ollé
{"title":"Objectifying processes: The use of geometric morphometrics and multivariate analyses on Acheulean tools","authors":"Paula García-Medrano, Elías Maldonado-Garrido, N. Ashton, A. Ollé","doi":"10.2218/JLS.4327","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/JLS.4327","url":null,"abstract":"Nowadays, the fruitful discussion regarding the morphological variability of handaxes during the Middle Pleistocene has reached a decisive moment with the use of more accurate statistical methods, such as geometric morphometrics (GM) and multivariate analyses (MA). This paper presents a preliminary methodological approach for checking the utility of these new approaches on the analysis of the tools’ shape. It goes beyond the simple description of morphology and isolates the variables which define the final morphology of a tool. We compared two Middle Pleistocene sites, Boxgrove and Swanscombe, which are morphologically very different. Then, we applied the GM analysis on 1) 2D images, with two semi-landmark distributions: 28 semi-landmarks, specially concentrated on the tip and butt, and 60 equally spaced points; and 2) on 3D models using new software (AGMT3-D Software) including 5000 semi-landmarks. The more points used to define the tool’s outline, the more accurate will be the interpretation of the variables affecting shape. On the other hand, if the semi-landmarks are localized on specific sectors of the tool, a bias is created, by concentrating on those sectors, rather than the general tool shape. The 3D models offer a new dimension on the shape analysis, as their results mean the combination of plan-shape, profile-shape and the tool’s topography.","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45382467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Using morphometrics to reappraise old collections: The study case of the Congo Basin Middle Stone Age bifacial industry","authors":"I. Mesfin, A. Leplongeon, D. Pleurdeau, A. Borel","doi":"10.2218/JLS.4329","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/JLS.4329","url":null,"abstract":"Despite its strategic location within the continent, Central Africa is rarely integrated into the reconstruction of population dynamics during the Middle Stone Age (MSA) of Africa, especially in terms of the emergence, diffusion and behavioural patterns of Homo sapiens. However, hundreds of sites have been discovered in Central Africa during the 20th century and attributed to the Lupemban, one of the main MSA technological complexes of the region. This complex is mainly characterised by typological criteria based on the numerous bifacial pieces found in the Congo Basin and interpreted as an adaption to the rainforest environment. Most of these Lupemban assemblages have not been studied for decades and thus it is particularly difficult to assess their diversity. This paper presents a detailed combined morphometrical approach (linear measurements and indices, Log Shape Ratio, Elliptic Fourier Analysis) to take a fresh and rigorous look at the Lupemban bifacial tools. We discuss the comparison of different morphometrical approaches to deal with “old” collections for which contexts, particularly chronological ones, are partially missing. We present the results of this approach on three assemblages of bifacial pieces gathered in the 1930s and late 1960s. We quantify their variability and discuss not only their homogeneity but also the variation of a Lupemban hallmark, namely the “Lupemban point”.","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45770261","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Kimberley points of Western Australia: Pressure flaking, projections and prestige","authors":"T. Maloney","doi":"10.2218/jls.2968","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.2968","url":null,"abstract":"Kimberley points are pressure flaked bifaces with marginal projections, produced within the last millennium, in north Western Australia. These points were hafted for hunting and fighting in recent times, although there is some suggestion that smaller points tended to be hafted for use in favour of larger points, which were reserved for trade and exchange. Kimberley Points are imbued with strong social signalling and prestige qualities, known from Historic times. This paper examines whether these qualities are reflected archaeologically in their marginal projections produced with pressure flaking; and their morphology and production. Multiple sources of Kimberley Point archaeology, ethnography, and production are critically reviewed. As prestige items, the marginal projections are found to very likely relate to their social value, rather than functional drive, which this study investigates using morphological approaches. Samples from both ethnographic collections and archaeological surface assemblages are analysed. The study finds that biface elongation, length and perimeter length each greatly influenced the number of and size of marginal projections, regardless of raw material. This aspect of production probably reflects the value and social prestige for large serrated points, likely produced by the knapper before an audience in virtuoso displays of pressure flaking. It is conceivable that these complex social practices emerged around 1,000 years ago. This study provides a rare glimpse into the social values of stone tool produces, and links archaeological data to social values in the past.","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44895121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bibliography of Dr. Errett Hargrove Callahan Jr.","authors":"O. Crandell","doi":"10.2218/JLS.3076","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/JLS.3076","url":null,"abstract":"The following is a bibliography of the works of Errett H. Callahan and works about him. This is has been written to accompany the biography written by Hugo Nami (this issue).","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47843071","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Inefficient practice of flint heat treatment at Hasankeyf Höyük: An anti-functional view","authors":"O. Maeda","doi":"10.2218/jls.3032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.3032","url":null,"abstract":"This paper investigates the heat treatment of flint practiced at the Neolithic site of Hasankeyf Höyük in southeast Turkey. It does not involve petrographic or geochemical analysis to identify the physical and chemical evidence of heat treatment but aims to understand cultural aspects of the use of ancient lithic technology, using heat treatment as a case study. Heat treatment is a lithic production technique in which siliceous rocks are heated by controlled fire in order to improve their flaking quality. Archaeological evidence of heat treatment is seen all over the world, and numerous studies have contributed to the better understanding of this technique. However, what is particularly intriguing in the case of Hasankeyf Höyük is that there are many flint artefacts which were apparently overheated and unusable due to the frequent failure in achieving successful heat treatment. On the other hand, experimental studies using an electrical furnace and open fire show that once the appropriate heating time and temperature are learnt, the heat treatment of local flint at Hasankeyf Höyük is an easy process and does not require high technical skill. It is therefore suggested that heat treatment at this site was exercised along non-economic principles by people who were not very keen on improving technological efficiency, even when they could have easily done so.","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42615038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Errett H. Callahan (1937-2019): Researcher, flintknapper, and artist","authors":"H. G. Nami","doi":"10.2218/JLS.4124","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/JLS.4124","url":null,"abstract":"Errett Hargrove Callahan Jr. was a standout American pioneer in experimental archaeology, lithic technology, and replicative experimental studies. Errett, son of Errett Callahan, Sr. and Mary Ingraham Callahan, was born on December 17th, 1937 in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he lived until his death on May 29th, 2019. He leaves his son Tim, daughter Melody, and three grandchildren, Chris, Megan, and Ryan.","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68262338","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The hunter-gatherer site BES II (Jacaré-Guaçu River low terraces, central Sao Paulo state, Brazil): Interface with geomorphical and environmental fluctuations of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition","authors":"Fabio Santos, P. Cheliz","doi":"10.2218/JLS.2783","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2218/JLS.2783","url":null,"abstract":"The lithic site Boa Esperança II (BES II), in the São Paulo segment of the Brazilian Plateau, next to the boundary between the cities of Araraquara (SP) and Boa Esperança do Sul (SP), presents a collection of almost 2,000 lithic artifacts (predominantly chert and sandstone), being interpreted as a settlement of diversified functions with possibly continuous or successive occupation. In this work, we approach the site based on interface of its insertion in the regional physical-environmental context - with emphasis on the interface with relief frames, surface structure study and estimated geomorphic sequences of the alluvial plain of Jacaré-Guaçu river - and techno-typological analysis. It was verified that the BES II artifacts are distributed along vertical profiles and relief pictures lined by records that mark the transition from semi-arid conditions to others of increasing humidity, successive oscillations of base levels and modifications of fluvial regimes (ephemeral channels passing to perennial channels of different hydrological meandrings patterns), indicating that human occupation has dealt with conditions of quite distinct landscapes between the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene. Local lithic industry would have taken advantage of attributes derived from these modifications in the landscape over time - in particular the exposure of gravels of large river pebbles deposited by torrential ephemeral channels. The past abundance of raw material of fluvial origin would have contributed to the location of the site in the regional geomorphological context, as well as for a lithic assemblage based on the production of large unipolar flakes. We observed in the correlations between the position of artifacts, geomorphical and pedological data, OSL and Carbone-14 dates at archaeological levels, elements that allow us to discuss considering BES II as an archaeological site to integrate the interval of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition and to had interfaces with the geomorphological and environmental changes of such time. The archaeological implications of the issue and the fact that only one dating of photoluminescence has been reported from the deepest level of the site (basal gravel layer) emphasize the need for new, denser and more diversified studies.","PeriodicalId":44072,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Lithic Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2019-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42276837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}